HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN?

 

HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN?

A business plan is an outline and summary that shows the set of goals and processes required of a business team or person responsible for a project. The purpose of action plans is to provide the reader with an opportunity to better understand the objectives, tasks, results, and deadlines of the project. Work plans, whether in work life or study, help to stay organized while working, and to facilitate the process of evaluating performance and the achievement of pre-set goals. Through it, you are able to break down the required processes into small and achievable tasks, as well as define the things that you want to achieve. Now learn how to write a business plan, to be ready for your next projects.

BUSINESS PLAN PREPARATION STEPS:

1-    1-Determine the purpose of the business plan. Business plans are written for many reasons. Determine the purpose of the business plan you are writing, and keep that purpose in mind so that you can prepare it in the right way. Keep in mind that most business plans are for a certain period of time (eg: 6 months - or a year).

·        At work, plans help keep your manager informed of the projects you're working on over the coming months. It is developed immediately after the annual performance review or after the team has implemented large projects. Action plans can also be developed during strategic planning cycles organized by the organization at the beginning of the new fiscal year or year.

·        In the academic field, work plans help students schedule large projects. It also assists the professors in planning the course offered in the semester.

·        On personal projects, a business plan helps you outline what you intend to do, how to implement it, and the date by which you intend to finish the work. Plans are for personal projects, although they are not obligatory or absolutely necessary, but they help people to organize their work and monitor performance and the achievement of goals for those projects.

2-     Write the introduction and background information. For professional business plans, you may need to write an "introduction" to the business plan. The purpose of writing it is to provide enough information for the manager or supervisor to understand the plan optimally. Writing this introduction may not be necessary for academic business plans.

·        The introduction should be brief and attractive. State the reasons for preparing this plan. Talk in a presentation about the specific project or projects that you will be working on during the next period of time.

·        The introduction should cover the reasons behind making this plan. For example: List details and statistics from recent reports, identify issues that need to be addressed, and make up a set of recommendations or comments you received during previous projects.

3-     Set goals and objectives. Set for yourself your goals and goals that you want to achieve, noting the difference that the goals: are the long-term goals, which are general and extensive. While goals: They refer to short-term goals, which must be specific and clear so that you can convert them into practical actions and tasks that you can actually implement.

·        Objectives you should focus on the overall picture of your project. State the desired end results of the action plan. Make it broad, for example: make it your goal to complete the paper or learn more about writing.

·        Objectives must be specific and tangible. In other words, you should be able to mark it on your to-do list once you achieve it. For example: (finding people to interview for the paper you are working on) is an appropriate goal.

·        Some action plans divide goals into: short, medium, and long-term goals. Especially if the nature of their goals varies greatly between them. For example: the company's short-term goal of (increase views by 30% in three months) is very different from the long-term goal of (enhance brand visibility in online media over the next year).

·        Objectives are written in the form of the active and use action verbs with a clear meaning - uninterpretable - (for example: plan / write / increase / measure) instead of verbs with ambiguous meaning (such as: examine / understand / know .. etc.) .

4-     Arrange the goals in your business plan using the SMART method. This title is abbreviated into five words that describe what you need in order to reach tangible and actionable results with your action plan.

ü SPECIFIC

What will we do? And for whom? Determine the target group you will provide the service to and any specific actions you will follow in order to help this sector of people.

ü MEASURABLE

Measurable goals. Are these specific goals quantifiable? Do you appreciate the expense of results? Have you built the action plan on a goal (Health will improve in South Africa in 2020)? Or were you specific and chose a clear and measurable goal such as: (Births infected with HIV in South Africa will decrease by 20% in 2020)?

Remember that a baseline figure must be established in order to measure change. If you don't know the birth rate of AIDS in South Africa, it would be impossible to say with confidence that the infection rate will be reduced by 20%.

ü ACHIEVABLE

Achievable goals can this goal be accomplished within the allotted time and with the available resources? Objectives must be realistic and aware of the limitations and barriers surrounding the work environment that may impede their achievement. Increasing sales by 500% is only possible if you are a startup or small business. But to increase sales by 500% and your company is already dominant in the market, it is next to impossible. In some cases, it is necessary to refer to an expert in order to consult him in determining whether the objectives set are achievable or not.

ü  RELEVANT

Set goals that are closely related to the core theme 'Relevant'. Will these objectives affect the desired objectives or basic strategy? Although “height and weight” is generally important in matters of student health care, do these measures directly affect your task in developing “mental health” care for students? on which you are working.

ü TIME BOUND

When will these goals be achieved? And/or when will we know it's done? Set a cut-off time for the end of the project. Also, clearly state, if any, the outcomes that will lead to an early end to the project.

5-   List the capabilities required. Include all the resources and capabilities that you will need to have in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the project. The nature of the resources varies with the purpose and nature of the action plan.

·        For business plans in companies and organizations, the resources may include: the financial budget, employees, experts and consultants, buildings or rooms, books. If the business plan is formal, you may include the detailed budget in the appendix.

·        For the academic and academic field, the resources may include: The right to use various libraries / materials needed for research such as: books, magazines and newspapers / a computer and internet connection / a university professor or any individual who is able to answer your questions on the subject.

6-     Identify limitations and obstacles. This means everything that stands in the way of achieving your goals. For example, if you are working on a school research paper, you may find that your class schedule is too crowded to research and write properly. So, the obstacle may be the busy school schedule, and the solution is to leave some lessons during the semester in order to complete the work plan efficiently.

7-     Responsible person. Accountability is critical to good business plans. Who is assigned to complete each task? There may be a team of people working on one task, but one person is being held accountable for how to work on that task and the need to finish it on time.

8-     Write your strategy. A strategy is the plan or direction taken to achieve the main or overall goal. Take a look at the work plan and determine how you will be able to use the available capabilities and how to overcome obstacles in order to reach the goals and objectives of the project.

·        Develop specific action steps. Decide what you need to do every day or every week in order to achieve your goals. Also put the steps required of the rest of the people in your work team. You can use project management software and applications or a personal calendar to keep this information organized.

·        Make a table. Don't forget that a lot of unexpected things will happen, so leave room in your schedule for those surprise additions.